


The Thin Line (Between Me And You)

by dalalaeda



Series: Chansooweek [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-09 23:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11114931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalalaeda/pseuds/dalalaeda
Summary: A 5 year old Park Chanyeol has his first day of primary school, meets his first crush and his first enemy.An 11 year old Park Chanyeol has his first week of middle school, makes his first friend and gets his first girlfriend.A 14 year old Park Chanyeol has his first month of high school, finds his first love and discovers new things.A  20 year old Park Chanyeol has his first year of college, experiences his first heartbreak and says goodbye to his best friend.





	1. Primary School

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Chansooweek on Tumblr/Twitter
> 
> Day 1 - Firsts

Chanyeol hadn't experienced a lot of firsts in his lifetime. In his defense, he was only 5 years old. He had taken his first steps already. His first word was the ever so popular “dada” a solid 3 and a half years ago. Now, however, it was time for his first day of school. He had his first school uniform on, his first school bag filled with his first batch of school supplies and his first lunch box (a plastic one, red where the Iron Man picture didn't cover it) neatly tucked under his mom’s arm as she held his hand.  
His first walk to school had been terrifying. He could’ve sworn that every driver was trying to run him and his mom over. He wasn't yet tall enough for drivers to see him so his mom told him to raise his hand up high while crossing. He did it religiously as they crossed the one street between them and the school.  
The influx of first students accompanied by parents or siblings started crowding around them the closer they got to the intimidating building. The first thing Chanyeol noticed about it was the big playground. It had a goal to play football and swings and a jungle gym. Chanyeol wanted nothing more than to run from his mom’s hold and play. He tugged her arm and pointed to the jungle gym, asking if he could go on it. She shook her head and told him he’d get to play soon enough. Chanyeol was never one to argue with his mom. Miraculously, he hadn't even thrown his first tantrum. His dad thought it was a good sign but his mom was afraid it meant he wasn't developing as fast as he should. Chanyeol didn’t know what it meant when he eavesdropped on his parents’ conversation last night.  
When his mom finally brought him inside the building he was destined to get acquainted with during the next five or so years he almost felt overwhelmed. It was obvious that he was an odd one out. Everyone else seemed to know someone there. Chanyeol assumed that was what happened when you moved to a new neighborhood without knowing anyone.  
His grip on his mother’s hand tightened as he clung to her leg, trying his best to hide behind her.  
“Chanyeol, sweetie, you have to let me walk, honey.” He looked up at his mom, eyes wide and close to tearing up. His mom smiled back, her eyes warm and comfortable. Reluctantly, Chanyeol nodded and stepped away from her, still close enough to duck behind her again. If he had looked back up he would’ve seen his mother’s fond smile as she shook her head at her son’s antics.  
The classroom she brought him to was just a few doors down the first hallway. Chanyeol was thankful because it was exactly four doors down counting both sides and he only just knew how to count to seven at that point.  
The room itself was a lot different than his kindergarten. While rooms there had been decorated in bright colors and toys were abundant, this one was a drab grey filled with perfectly lined desks and no toys in sight. Several kids were already seated at some desks, talking excitedly about school and paying no mind to Chanyeol. His mom walked to the nice looking woman at the biggest desk. Chanyeol didn’t pay any attention to their conversation until suddenly, the nice looking woman was squatting in front of him. He looked up, the tips of his ears along with his cheeks suddenly started burning. She smiled kindly at him.  
“Welcome Chanyeol, I’m sure you’ll love it here.” She ruffled his hair slightly and, if it was possible, his face only got hotter. She stood up and continued talking to his mom. Chanyeol was too lost in his own thoughts as he brushed his hand through his hair to pay attention. If he had, he might’ve heard his mom telling his teacher how shy he was and his teacher’s promise to help him make at least one friend. Chanyeol didn’t care for mindless chatter. He just met his first crush!

~°~°~°~°~°~°~

His mom was long gone. Almost every seat in the classroom was filled with chattering students by now. Chanyeol was front and center. He had two reasons for that. One, he could be closer to his teacher, Ms. Song, that way and two, if he sat too far away he wouldn’t be able to see the blackboard.  
He watched eagerly as the clock ticked closer and closer to 8am, closer and closer to his first lesson.  
With only a few seconds left, a man opened the door. He held the hand of a boy tightly, heading straight for the teacher. Again, Chanyeol couldn’t hear the conversation but he saw when his teacher pointed in his direction and it felt as if everyone in the room was looking at him.  
The man nodded and proceeded to walk over to the empty seat to Chanyeol’s left. He helped the boy get settled in his seat before leaving him with a goodbye kiss to his forehead.  
Just when the man left, their teacher decided to stand before the class, right in front of Chanyeol. Chanyeol knew this was his chance to impress her so he straightened his back and tried to will the redness in his face to go away. She didn't pay him much mind, instead opting to smile widely at the entire class.  
“Good morning and welcome.” She said, her bright voice making Chanyeol smile back. “I’m Ms. Song, your teacher. We’ll be spending a lot of time together in this room so I thought we should get to know each other.” Her eyes finally landed on Chanyeol who could’ve sworn her smile got wider as their eyes met. “Let’s start by introducing ourselves and telling each other one thing about ourselves. I’ve already told you my name and one thing about me so let's start with you--” she pointed to a girl sat by the window in the last row, every student shifting to follow Ms. Song’s finger “--and end with you.” This time her finger landed on a small boy sat closest to the door in the front row. The same row Chanyeol was in. He frowned slightly at the thought of not being able to tell his teacher about himself just yet. “Alright, let’s begin, shall we? Go on, dear.” She told the girl sitting by the window. The girl stood up at Ms. Song’s encouragement.  
“My name is Bae Minsu and I have five pigs at my grandpa’s farm.” She said, voice travelling surprisingly well as her chin was buried in her chest. Ms. Song thanked her and Chanyeol had never seen anyone sit down as fast as she did. The next kid, also a girl, followed suit but Chanyeol barely paid any mind until the kid sat next to him stood up.  
“My name is Do Kyungsoo and I live with just my dad and older brother.” The boy, Kyungsoo, said, his back straight as he looked directly at Ms. Song with a kind of confident aura Chanyeol aspired to achieve before taking his seat again. Chanyeol almost missed his chance to introduce himself but stood up quickly, almost knocking over his chair in the process.  
“My name is Park Chanyeol and I have two cats!” It came out way louder than he intended. In fact, he had shouted it. The realization caused him to sit back in his chair, possibly even faster than Minsu had, under the laughter of his classmates. Ms. Song looked at him with something akin to pity but Chanyeol didn’t want to acknowledge it. Instead, he looked to his left to find that the boy, Kyungsoo, opted for staring at him in place of laughing with the rest of their class. That might’ve been even worse since his eyes were unusually large and his brows were furrowed. Chanyeol felt smaller than ever.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

Of course, it was just his luck that the first class he would ever be in happened to be math. It definitely didn't help that he didn't understand what coloring in numbers had to do with anything.  
“To start off we’ll learn the first few numbers.” Ms. Song had said with a wide smile before going over the first ten numbers and zero on the board. Then she distributed sheets of paper with only the outlines of the same numbers and told them to color them in. Chanyeol didn’t know what that had to do with math, it was more like art. Ms. Song is very peculiar, he decided. But either way, he was determined to show his best side through this assignment.  
He was so focused, in fact, that he didn't notice that the kid next to him, Kyungsoo, had raised his hand until Ms. Song was right between them.  
“I’m finished, Ms. Song.” He said, showing his finished product to their teacher. Chanyeol couldn't help but sneak a glance only for immense disappointment to settle. Kyungsoo’s work was much cleaner than his.  
“That’s great, Kyungsoo. You deserve a gold star.” Her smile appeared to be twice as wide as it was before when she spoke to Kyungsoo. She placed a gold star sticker on his paper before turning to Chanyeol. “And how are you doing, Chanyeol?” She asked with a sweet voice. Without any words, Chanyeol showed Ms. Song his paper. She still smiled at him and praised him for his work but it didn't feel genuine, not like it had when she spoke to Kyungsoo. Certainly, that was the first time Chanyeol experienced jealousy and unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last.

 

On his way to his second day of school, Chanyeol decided that Kyungsoo was his first enemy. They were obviously both vying for the attention of Ms. Song and Chanyeol would not go down without a fight. Even if Kyungsoo had the cuteness nailed down, Chanyeol would do his best to win Ms. Song’s heart.  
Chanyeol was so deep in thought --trying to come up with a plan to gain Ms. Song’s approval in the same way Kyungsoo had-- he forgot to raise his hand while crossing the street. His mother, thankfully, noticed and poked his shoulder to get his attention. Once hers, she gestured for him to lift his arm. Chanyeol did so wordlessly, only sparing his mother a brief smile before disappearing into his thoughts again.  
Once they had successfully crossed the street, his mom stopped them to talk. She lowered herself to be eye-level with Chanyeol.  
“Chanyeol, what’s wrong? You're so distracted.” She said with worry painting her tone. Chanyeol shrugged, not willing to tell his mom about his crush and his rival. “Are you finding school hard?” Chanyeol wanted to laugh. There was nothing hard about school. If anything, it was rather easy. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Chanyeol shook his head silently.  
“There’s nothing wrong, mom. Don’t worry about me.” He gave her his best smile before tugging on her arm in an attempt to tell her that they needed to get a move on. Class was starting in ten minutes and the school was right there. If he didn’t get there soon he’d be late and Chanyeol didn’t want to be late.  
His mom seemed to take the hint somewhat and sighed before walking him onto the grounds. It wasn’t long before he was even seated back in the same place he had been the previous day. Ms. Song had told them that would be their seat for the year. Chanyeol was nothing if not good at following direction.  
He was soon joined by other students and as the clock ticked closer to the start of class, he couldn't help noticing that Kyungsoo wasn’t there yet. It made him rather smug, thinking the boy had decided not to come to school anymore. He was certain that he had won Ms. Song over. Or, he was until Kyungsoo showed up a minute before class. Kyungsoo’s dad pressed a quick kiss to his forehead before saying his goodbyes and Kyungsoo himself trudged over to his seat, sitting down as the bell rang.  
Chanyeol felt the inexplicable urge to scowl at his seat mate but resisted it on the premise that he was a good kid. The day his school would call home was the day Chanyeol would lose his mother’s trust. It was far too valuable to throw away like that.  
Chanyeol took pride in his good reputation. Granted, the reputation lasted as far as his aunts and uncles but still, disappointing his mother was not a first Chanyeol wanted to experience. That was why he was at the verge of tears when he just couldn't focus on coloring the numbers. He knew Kyungsoo was staring at his discomfort, he assumed Kyungsoo was reeling in it. Which is why his first instinct was to be defensive when Kyungsoo asked whether he was okay.  
“None of your business.” He replied oh so maturely. Kyungsoo’s hand somehow landed on his table.  
“It’s okay.” He said softly. Chanyeol looked up but Kyungsoo's expression was still as wide-eyed as before, ruining any chance he had of looking sympathetic. Chanyeol scoffed and brushed Kyungsoo’s hand off of his table. The latter stared at his hand for a few moments before looking up at Chanyeol. He didn’t say anything, however, and Chanyeol felt content to place all of his anger towards himself onto Kyungsoo. In the long run it wasn’t the smartest move but Chanyeol was hell bent on hating Kyungsoo.


	2. Middle School

Chanyeol’s second first day started off much differently. Sure, his mother showed him the way but she told him that in a few days he should know the way and then he would start walking with his sister. Chanyeol found it daunting, he couldn't imagine not walking with his mom. Still, that seemed to be what was going to happen and he wouldn't be one to fight it. He was still a good kid.  
If he had to pick one thing, however, that he disliked the most about this new arrangement, it would have to be that Ms. Song wasn’t his teacher anymore. Well, that and the fact that he was in the same class as Kyungsoo again. And they were seat mates again.  
After entering the classroom, Chanyeol had noticed that all the desks came in pairs. Unlucky was he that he hadn't really managed to make a lot of friends the past six years. He had sat down front and center again to be able to properly view the board as well as possible hoping that someone would sit down and they could become great friends due to… convenience. It was only shortly before the bell rang --Kyungsoo had a knack for almost being late-- when Kyungsoo entered the room among a group of his friends, spotted Chanyeol, made a decision, and sat down next to him undoubtedly to torture him more.  
Chanyeol was more than a little surprised at the turn of events since Kyungsoo’s friends seemed to have planned that they would all sit near each other at the back. Still, they questioned him silently and seemed to take his shrug as answer enough. They sat down at the back of the class, loud and boisterous as usual, and Kyungsoo sat quietly next to his sworn enemy.  
“Why aren't you with your friends?” Chanyeol asked. Kyungsoo looked up, large eyes wide in what appeared to be shock that Chanyeol was speaking to him, and opened his mouth to answer just as the teacher walked in.  
Chanyeol minded the interruption but quickly focused his attention to the introduction their teacher made. His name was Mr. Choi and they should address him as such or as Sir but never by his given name. Chanyeol would take that to heart but that’s a story for another day. Right now he was more concerned about his nemesis sitting next to him.  
It’s not like Kyungsoo was distracting him. He was just sitting there, breathing. God, he was a loud breather. How was anyone supposed to focus with him mimicking a black hole in their ear! It was truly unacceptable! It was disruptive and so Kyungsoo of him to try to sabotage Chanyeol in any way possible!  
Chanyeol was so caught up in finding reasons to be against Kyungsoo sitting next to him that he almost missed it when Mr. Choi handed out their schedules. Chanyeol looked over his own carefully before sneaking a hopeful glance at Kyungsoo’s only to see that they had classes together almost 84% of the time.  
“How lucky,” Kyungsoo said as he unabashedly looked over Chanyeol’s schedule, “we have so many classes together.” He spared a confused Chanyeol a small smile before turning back to Mr. Choi.   
Their teacher was currently telling them the pressure middle school would put on them if they didn’t do well in primary school and how much harder high school would be if they didn’t enter it with proper preparation. Chanyeol could almost feel a cold sweat breaking out. He had done so poorly in primary school, he could only imagine how difficult the next three years would be for him.  
“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked when he noticed Chanyeol’s expression. Once again, Chanyeol felt like he needed to be defensive for no good reason.  
“Of course I’m fine, worry about yourself.” He punctuated the sentence with a half-believable snort. It was just like Kyungsoo to start minding other people’s business even when said people had made it clear again and again that he should leave them alone.  
“I can worry about more than one thing at a time, you know?” Kyungsoo said before turning to Mr. Choi again. Chanyeol could’ve sworn he heard slight malice in Kyungsoo’s voice but like a lot of things regarding Kyungsoo, it was only in his head.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~

On the third day of school, Kyungsoo managed to show up on time. He was actually early, as well. So much so that he was sitting alone at the playground. Seeing this, Chanyeol was close to asking his sister if he could go to her school for ten minutes but she spotted Kyungsoo before Chanyeol got the chance.  
“Channie, isn’t that boy in your class?” She asked, Chanyeol nodded reluctantly. “Are you friends?” She asked again and Chanyeol felt a small pang as he shook his head. “Go keep him company, you might just become friends.” She smiled as she said it and Chanyeol couldn’t help the pout on his lips.  
“I don’t want to be friends with him.” Chanyeol answered, feeling like a bratty seven-year-old. His sister only shook her head at her brother’s immaturity.  
“Chanyeol, why don’t you want to be his friend?” Her question almost forced Chanyeol to reveal his crush on Ms. Song which, frankly, wasn’t in the picture anymore.  
“It doesn’t matter.” He mumbled.  
“If it doesn’t matter then go talk to him, he looks nice.” Chanyeol fought the snort at his sister’s words. But, he really didn’t know what there was to snort about. Kyungsoo had never actually been mean to him.  
Fine, he decided, I’ll talk to him for five minutes and if I still dislike him I’ll never talk to him again unless necessary. And so Chanyeol puffed out his small chest and headed over to the boy he had spent six years viewing as his mortal enemy.  
“Hey.” Chanyeol said, standing awkwardly in front of his seat mate. Kyungsoo looked up from his seat on the swing with slight shock painted on his features.  
“Hey.” He answered warily.  
“Mind if I join you?” Chanyeol asked, pointing to the swing next to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo nodded and Chanyeol quietly sat down. “You do know that class doesn’t start for another twenty minutes, right? Nobody’s even here.”  
“I know, I couldn’t sleep very well so I headed out earlier.” Kyungsoo answered Chanyeol’s unasked question. “Why are you here so early, though?” He shot back and Chanyeol looked on as his sister made her way around a corner.  
“My sister had a club thing before school so I had to come here earlier with her.”  
“Your sister walks you to school?” Kyungsoo asked. Chanyeol felt a blush as he assumed Kyungsoo would use this information to make fun of him once he returned to his usual group of friends.  
“Yeah, why?” His defensive tone made a comeback as he prepared himself to fight back any nasty comments.  
“No reason, I think you’re kinda lucky, is all.” Kyungsoo admitted shyly. Chanyeol felt the need to ask why Kyungsoo thought that and so he did. “Your family seems so put-together, you know? Not everybody has that.” Kyungsoo was looking at his feet as they kicked the ground lightly.  
“I guess,” Chanyeol started, “yours isn’t?” Kyungsoo’s feet stopped kicking before he shook his head. Chanyeol didn’t really know why he felt the urge to hug Kyungsoo but he resisted it all the same.  
“You’re lucky too, you have a lot of friends.” Chanyeol didn’t mean for it to sound bitter but it did. Kyungsoo didn’t seem to notice the tone as he shrugged in response. Chanyeol noticed Kyungsoo’s defeated demeanor and felt compelled to say something. “Hey, do you maybe want to hang out after school?” Kyungsoo looked up at the question. Once again, his unusually large eyes seemed to get wider.  
“Sure, I’d like that.” His smile was small but genuine and Chanyeol decided that he actually liked seeing Kyungsoo smile, almost as much as he liked seeing his dad smile but we’ll get to that.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~

The final class of their final day of their first week saw an unusual playfulness from Chanyeol. The cause was, without question, his seat mate and former enemy, Kyungsoo. The past two days had seen an elevation of both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s moods. After hanging out that first time, Chanyeol had discovered that they had a few things in common.  
However, their time was interrupted as a girl, Jiyu, came up to them. More specifically, came up to Chanyeol. The pair stood dumbfounded, Chanyeol going as far as to having his mouth slightly agape, as she addressed them.  
“May we help you?” Kyungsoo asked as Chanyeol didn’t seem fit to answer. Jiyu looked at Kyungsoo quizzically before a blush started forming on her cheeks.  
“Can you give this to Chanyeol.” She asked Kyungsoo, handing him a folded note and hurrying off as soon as he got a hold of it. The note was in Chanyeol’s hand before Kyungsoo could fully register what had just happened.  
“What does it say?” Kyungsoo asked, leaning over Chanyeol’s shoulder to read what it said. Chanyeol still felt slightly wary of Kyungsoo so he couldn't help his reflex to hide the note, even if it was only slightly.  
“She wants to be my girlfriend.” Chanyeol said in shock. Kyungsoo stared at him expectantly before voicing the question he thought Chanyeol would’ve gotten by then.  
“Are you gonna say yes?” Chanyeol’s eyes widened as the realization that he would have to answer her set in.  
“I don’t know.” He whispered in reply. Kyungsoo snickered slightly before nudging Chanyeol’s shoulder with his own.  
“You should answer soon, she's looking at you.” Chanyeol’s head whipped around to look at Jiyu who he found to be not-so-discreetly looking at him. She raised an eyebrow and Chanyeol, still in a state of shock, started nodding his head. Her face broke out in a smile and Chanyeol gave her a weak one back. He slowly turned back to Kyungsoo.  
“What have I done.” He whispered to Kyungsoo who thought it would be a good idea to laugh at Chanyeol’s misery. Maybe Chanyeol made a mistake in listening to his sister.


End file.
